7 - 13 June 2001
Issue No.537
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 June 2001 Issue No.537 |
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Away from the abyss
Any end to the current spiral of violence will require an acknowledgment of Palestinian, as well as Israeli, security concerns, writes Ibrahim Nafie
What Egypt has long been dreading has come to pass, in spite of explicit warnings to the international community and to the US. As long ago as the Sharm El-Sheikh summit last year Egypt called for a mechanism to keep Palestinian-Israeli violence in check, yet following the recent Tel Aviv suicide bombing the two sides are on the brink of all out war.
The major factor bringing the Palestinians and Israelis to the edge of the abyss is the increasingly extremist political climate inside Israel. Hawkish views have so come to dominate decision-making circles in Tel Aviv that Ariel Sharon, who has used F-16 planes to bomb civilian targets in the West Bank, actually thinks he is exercising self-control.
Avigdor Lieberman is among the most alarming voices in Israel who openly proposed dismantling the PA and establishing four cantons in the West Bank and Gaza. In an interview with Radio Israel the day before the Tel Aviv incident, Israel's Minister for Infrastructure said that Israeli forces should enter Palestinian controlled areas within 48 hours to destroy the "arms caches" and infrastructure in these areas. Force 17, the Palestinian police and Islamic fundamentalists were responsible for killing Palestinians, he claimed, adding that Israel could negotiate with each Palestinian canton separately in the future.
Another fanatic, Israeli Minister of Housing Nathan Sharansky called for war against Yasser Arafat if the Palestinian leader fails to put an end to violence. "We've come to the end of the road after years of trying to make Arafat our partner," he said.
More ominously, members of the Israel army command have stated that all out war is not a distant prospect and that "our forces are on full alert."
The expression of such views, at such a senior level, well before the recent suicide bombing, was reckless and provocative in the extreme. Now, in the general hysteria that has followed that tragic incident, the fear is that moderate voices appealing for political solutions and self-control will be drowned out by the clamour for revenge. And Tel Aviv is less inclined than ever to heed the cautions of outside parties.
That Israel has at the ready a fully-fledged plan to invade PA controlled areas and wage a direct assault on PA targets is perfectly likely. That all parties concerned with the situation in the region feared just such a scenario, which would put paid to all peace efforts for the near future, explains the intensive flurry of high-level contacts that followed the Tel Aviv suicide bombing. The US, in particular, acted rapidly to pressure for restraint, which suggests that Washington had prior knowledge of Tel Aviv's plans.
Developments over the past few days, moreover, have demonstrated a general consensus over the urgency of ending the spiraling violence and finding a path away from an abyss that had suddenly loomed closer than anyone thought possible.
Arafat, whom the Israelis have always held responsible for the violence, merits special praise. He has done everything in his power during the recent crisis to keep the situation under control. Indeed, he has taken one of the hardest decisions possible for a person in his difficult position, declaring his willingness to work for an immediate unconditional cease-fire while at the same time condemning the Tel Aviv suicide bombing. Palestinian security forces have already been deployed, with the remit to use force to prevent violence.
The significance of his actions must not be underestimated. More importantly, they should be met with some understanding by the other side. The Palestinian Intifada is not, as some choose to portray it, an "official PA strategy." Quite the opposite, it is a mass movement in which the PA found itself embroiled and there is no magic button it can press to stop it overnight. Therefore, Arafat's efforts -- and they are considerable -- should be bolstered by an element of faith and support rather than eroded by further threats and intimidation.
It is counterproductive to continue to view the current situation solely as a question of the security of the Israeli people. Equally crucial to the equation is the need to defend the Palestinian people from the devastations of Israeli military brutality and economic blockade. Until now, no international power has stood up on behalf of the plight of the Palestinian people. Despite the appalling tragedy that occurred in Tel Aviv, it must be borne in mind that one-sided solutions, even if they offer a reprieve from the current predicament, will still remain shaky.
Naturally, a cease-fire is of paramount importance if the Palestinians and Israelis are to be kept from falling over the brink. However, the guns and suicide bombs did not appear out of the blue; they were a response to the intolerable daily attrition of blockade and security clampdowns and, ultimately, a consequence of the failure to make the necessary compromises in the peace process. Any cease-fire that is to last long enough to allow both sides to get beyond the current impasse must be founded on a more balanced formula. As soon as a cease-fire is implemented, urgent security meetings should be held with the aim of bringing about the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Mitchell report.
The Mitchell report is one of several concrete frameworks to end the violence preparatory to instituting confidence building mechanisms between the two sides to have emerged in recent months. Like the Sharm El-Sheikh summit resolutions and the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative before it, it offers a balanced approach that, if the Israelis and Palestinians adhere to their obligations, stands a good chance of leading the region away from the abyss.
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